Cinders
by RWBYRedReaper
Summary: No, this story isn't anything to do with Cinder... at least not enough to warrant it's name. There will be language, sadness, tragedy... Might be my Magnum Opus here. Hope you enjoy. (Storyline backbone is inspired from a book. RWBY belongs to RT.)
1. Chapter 1

Cinders

 **A/N: This story will be as realistic and no-holds-barred as I can make it. It will be both sad and happy. There will be no plot armor, no action movie nonsense. Maybe not even a happy ending. You have been warned.**

Chapter 1

Ruby dodged the attack, using her rifle to launch herself in the air. When she landed, however, her attacker was gone.

She looked around, finally spotting his white coat as he climbed a ladder nearby.

"You okay if I go after him?" She asked the shopkeeper behind her.

He grunted an O.K., and she took off, scaling the ladder twice as fast as Torchwick had.

She jumped over the lip, landing lightly, and shouting "Hey!"

She heard him mutter a reply, but couldn't understand what he'd said.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew in her face, originating from a Bullhead hidden behind the building.

He leapt on, turning and laughing, "END OF THE LINE, RED!" He held up a small red object and threw it at her.

Before the red-caped girl could react, a small explosion nearly engulfed her.

When she opened her eyes, a woman had come from nowhere and was standing infront of her.

The battle went downhill for the bullhead from there. Fire was thrown, storms were summoned… fangirls 'squeeeed'.

A short trip later, Ruby sat in a chair in a darkened room with only one light above her.

The blond woman who'd saved her minutes ago was now laying into her… and also praising her.

"That may have been the most irresponsible, yet heroic thing you could have done. What do you have to say for yourself?" The woman said, both coldly and warmly… somehow…

"I…"

"If it were up to me, you'd be sent home with a pat on the back…"

Ruby grew hopeful

"And a slap on the wrist!" The woman finished, slamming her weapon on the table.

"But… there is someone here who would like to meet you."

She stepped aside as a door opened, letting an older man enter the room with a glass of milk and a plate of cookies.

He spoke, "Ruby Rose… You have silver eyes…" He said, leaning close to her.

"Uuuhm…"

He continued to ask her about her weapon, her fighting style, and if she knew who he was.

"You're Professor Ozpin… The headmaster of Beacon Academy."

"Hello."

"Nice to meet you."

"You want to come to my school?"

"More than anything."

The older man looked towards the blonde woman, who sighed.

"Well okay."

"OH I CAN'T BELIEVE MY BABY SISTER'S GOING TO BEACON WITH ME!" Ruby's older sister exclaimed.

This was her dream. Beacon Academy. Not only that, but her sister was going with her. She knew it'd be hard, but she thought she could handle it with Yang at her side.

They conversed with small talk for a while before noticing a small crowd growing by the windows.

She could see the object of their attention.

Beacon Academy. Top Hunter school in Vale, one of the four largest and best Hunter schools in Remnant.

Her stomach lurched suddenly, as the carrier bullhead ran into a bit of turbulence.

Close by, a tall blonde guy bent over, holding his hand to his mouth.

"Guess the view isn't for everyone…" Yang said.

That's when things went…. Wrong.

There was a loud crack. Louder than gunfire. Louder than hundreds of gunfire.

A few students-to-be dropped into combat poses, looking around for attackers.

Yang herself jumped in surprise.

"What the heck was that?" She asked, standing up, "An engine blow up or something?"

Ruby got up and looked out the nearest window, towards Vale.

She scanned the city.

Nothing out of the ordinary. No smoke. No fire.

Just then, a loud whining sound echoed from outside, drowning out the engines.

"The warning signal? Grimm?" A girl with orange hair asked closeby.

"No… then there'd be Grimm." A boy answered.

Sure enough, there wasn't a single sign of Grimm. At least not on this side of Vale. She could see the border. Nothing but green.

"OH MY GOD!" Someone screamed, pointing out the window.

Ruby quickly followed her wide eyes, and saw what the student was looking at. Her own eyes widened.

Tall skyscrapers lined the city scape. But they were moving. Not like cheesy, B-rated movies where Buildings came alive and moved around. They shifted, shaking dangerously. And it was spreading.

Like a large hand swept over them, a few of the buildings fell, but more were shaking. One after another. Row by row.

Straight towards them.

It cleared the city, leaving much destruction in its wake.

Someone, she couldn't tell who, screamed "SHOCKWAVE!" before the Bullhead listed heavily.

It was indeed a shockwave, but lessened by air. If they'd been traveling by land, the truck or car would have been bucked off the road, skipped a few times, and killing everyone on board.

In the air, they were safer… but only a little.

Not used to any harsh resistance, the Bullhead engines blew up. She heard them go, and the ship began to spiral.

She turned, grabbing at the nearest body, hoping it was Yang.

It was.

The ship, not very aerodynamic going sideways, cracked apart, two halves spinning away.

Yang grabbed a nearby seat, holding on to Ruby for dear life as others were sucked out into open air.

Ruby risked a glance out the window, and could see the ground spinning below them.

It was close.

Yang was screaming something, but Ruby couldn't here. The wind and an odd booming noise drowned everything else out.

Yang bellowed something. It sounded like "I LOVE YOU!" before the Bullhead hit the ground, knocking the small girl into immediate unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks to 'Sylica Telca' (that's her discord name, I can't remember her FF name) for helping out with this chapter. Most of you will be pleased to see it's far longer than the first chapter. Without further ado: Chapter 2.**

She opened her eyes to gray sky, unable to hear anything but a high-pitched buzzing.

She tried to sit up, only for the mother of all headaches to push her back down.

The sky remained a solid gray. No misty faint outlines blown by wind.

It was like someone threw a blanket across the entire sky.

She moved to sit up again, this time ignoring the headache, and instantly regretted it.

Wreckage everywhere. Floating bodies littered the water around her. Some clutching at drifting debris, some face down, others waterlogged enough to slip below the surface and stay there.

She looked down, making a quick mental check.

'Feet and legs. Check. Head. That's a definite check. Hearing? That was a no, but not gone.'

She moved to put her hands to her face, checking for injuries, but gave a muffled shriek when she moved her left arm.

Unimaginable pain lanced through her arm well into her torso.

She looked at it, and gasped.

She didn't remember having three elbows.

Her forearm looked like a sideways Z. What was worse was that she could see bone protruding through her sleeve, coated in scarlet. She must have bled for some time, because the blood had nearly dried and crusted over, giving her normally snow white sleeve the color of… well… dried blood.

She fell back, not wanting to agitate her broken arm further.

"HELP!" She cried out. Her hearing must have been coming back, as she could now hear other voices calling out.

She remembered her scroll. Hastily digging it out of her small coat, she held it up, the see-through screen giving the sky a green tinge.

It was dead. More than that, it was cracked and broken.

She threw the useless plastic aside.

Her shock must have been wearing off too, because now, even though it was still, she could feel the pain in her arm swell to excruciating levels.

Finally… mercifully… she blacked out.

When she woke again, she could only see gray again.

But it was different. The gray surface seemed closer, and yellow tinged.

She looked to her side.

She was in a hospital room, lit by candles.

That was odd. She wondered why a hospital needed candles in a normally powered building. This wasn't Menagerie…

'No, that was wrong.' she chastised herself

The door opened, letting light fill the small room, and a nurse and doctor rushed in.

There were no pleasantries, no small talk, while the Nurse talked.

"Two fractures, concussion, and several lacerations."

The doctor quickly looked her over, "Make sure the arm is splinted, rationed water, and only treat the dangerous lacerations. I needn't remind you we are in a severe crisis?"

"No, Doctor."

"Excuse me-" Weiss started, but the nurse shushed her harshly as she went about her duties.

"And I don't need to say our medicines are in short supply?"

The nurse nodded, now checking Weiss's ocular reflexes. The doctor, satisfied, left.

"Excuse me!" Weiss said again, only for the nurse to shush louder, "No talking."

"How dare you-" Weiss began again, and this time, the Nurse responded.

"I don't have time for questions Schnee. There are hundreds upon out there who need our help MUCH more than you do, even if that is a bad break. Now be quiet." The nurse said roughly before putting an apple and a small MRE in her lap and left.

The room went back into hazy darkness, the candle had blown out.

She wrinkled her nose at the MRE. She was a Schnee, and she'd rather die than let something uncultured like a frozen military ration pass her lips.

She sat up, wincing at the pain in her arm. They'd set it and splinted it.

She assumed there were limited supplies, if her arm wasn't only splinted. She'd have to get it looked at when she returned to Atlas… as much as she didn't want to go back there.

She noticed they hadn't even changed her clothes. Her usually perfect white dress was stained red, with splotches of gray and brown.

She knew being a Huntress wouldn't be a clean job, but… she did love her combat skirt.

Shrugging it off, she got out of bed, blinking past the wave of dizziness that beset her and walked to the door.

Opening it, she saw… chaos.

Dozens of white-coated doctors and nurses rushed to and fro, carrying patients in varying degrees of injury. Some, like her, had splints and seemed fine. Others had large bandages over their heads, arms, and legs.

With a small gasp, she realized that a few had lost limbs.

'That's-That's to be expected… not everybody has Aura, Weiss…' She thought to herself, but images of the bodies in the water flooded back to her. Even those with aura didn't stand a chance.

As she stood there, watching in shocked interest, a large blonde girl rushed by, asking doctors, nurses, and patients alike in a frantic tone, "Have you seen a girl in a red cape?"

The medical staff paid her no attention, while the patients simply shook their heads, and eventually the girl got to her.

"You… have you seen a girl with a red cape? About yea big?" Blonde girl gestured with her hands about midway up her chest.

"I… No, I have not. In case you haven't noticed, I'm injured." Weiss said, perhaps a bit more rude than she meant to.

A flicker of red flitted across Blonde's lilac eyes, "Watch it, Princess."

Before Weiss could retort, however, Blondie had moved on.

Having had enough chaos, Weiss moved to close the door, only for the doctor to rush up to her, holding an armful of bandages.

"If you're well enough to stand and talk, you're well enough to help. Besides, we need that room for other patients." He said, pushing the bandages into her arms. When he grabbed her bad arm, she winced. "Right. Sorry. Here." He said hurriedly, giving her a bag, "Anyone who calls for a bandage, give them what they need." He barked before disappearing into the crowd.

She stood there momentarily, she was a Schnee, not an errand girl… but again, part of being a Huntress meant helping the people…

 _Three hours ago_

Yang's eyes shot open.

Without moving, she made a quick mental check. Hands, feet, legs, arms… check check check.

As she remembered what happened, she sighed with relief. She felt a warm mass pressed against her. Ruby was safe.

The crash had knocked her out… but at least she was alive. And so was Ruby.

Reaching around, she made to feel Ruby's head, but something was wrong… she touched stubble.

Looking down, she jolted back.

Indeed, a figure was draped across her body. However, the large figure was not Ruby. It was a lanky kid with a green Mohawk.

What's more… the kid was missing an arm at the shoulder.

Yang jumped up, rolling the guy to his side, cursing to herself. If only she'd paid more attention to Signal's first aid class…

She first checked his pulse. It was faint, but there.

She noticed a blue travel case nearby, ripped it open, and grabbed a shirt.

It was a hoodie with a bunny imprint on it. She paid it no mind as she ripped it apart, stuffing it into his arm hole and putting pressure on it.

She didn't know how long they'd been there. A few hours at most, with Yang repeatedly switching shirt after shirt to staunch the bleeding.

Finally, she heard an engine sound. It wasn't a Bullhead, but it was getting closer.

Boats appeared from the horizon, about two dozen. Help had finally arrived.

Yang helped a few other survivors carry wounded toward the edge of the wreckage so the Boatmen could get them easier.

She couldn't stop looking for her sister. Red cape, black boots, red skirt… anything telegraphing her little sister's position. Maybe it was shock… maybe her brains were scrambled in the crash, but she found herself getting increasingly dizzy.

This was especially apparent when she lifted a larger boy with rusty orange hair, and stumbled, almost falling over an edge into the water. She felt a hand on her arm, steadying her. Turning, she saw a girl a little shorter, with black hair and a torn black bow…

No. Not a bow, cat ears. Damaged, like a tabby cat's ears after a fight.

"Need help?" The girl asked.

Yang nodded, and Black took the guy's other arm.

"I'm Yang." Yang introduced herself.

"Blake."

"Are you okay? You're ears are…"

Blake stopped, feeling at her ears, seemingly panicked.

"They look fine… might just need a few stitches."

"It's not that… it's… I guess it doesn't matter. Let's go." Blake finished, and started forward, nearly pulling Yang off her feet.

"Woah… careful, sist-" Yang stopped herself, images of Ruby racing across her memory. She bit that down. She needed to know her sister was okay… but she couldn't think of that now. Not when other people needed help .

"It's nothing. Leave it." Blake answered, signaling the end of that conversation.

"Okay… Do you know what happened? What made the airship crashed?" Yang asked, feeling the need to keep talking.

"I don't know… I thought I heard something about a shockwave before we went down. I don't know what could cause that kind of massive reaction, but it must have been big."

Yang slipped a little, but quickly steadied herself, "We're almost there… we should get there quickly. This guy isn't looking so good."

They went the rest of the way in silence. By the time they reached the boats, it'd started to rain.

They gave the boy to the medics on the boat, but before he got on, he turned, "Ya know, we still have a little room… if you want to get back to land, we can take ya."

Blake agreed quickly, but Yang didn't, "No… I have to find someone. My sister. She was with me when we went down… and now she's not. I need to find her." She said the whole thing in one breath, not realizing she was rambling.

"Yang. We have to have gotten everyone off this half, and look," Blake pointed to the boats leaving the distant other half, "If they don't have her, then…" Blake's voice died.

Yang straightened, easily finishing Blake's sentence. She nodded and entered the boat. She had to be on the other boats.

She had to.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: This is in kind of a new format. If it doesn't work or is too spaced out, I'll edit it. Anyway, thanks Cake Legends and Phoenix Commander for Betareading. Also, check out** **knightofsprite... She's great.**

Chapter 3

Weiss hated this. She'd never heard more screams.

Growing up in a large Atlesian mansion got her used to silence and having everything served on a silver platter. Truth be told, she couldn't remember the last time she'd had to do manual labor.

Now, she was stuck in the middle of what seemed like a warzone, with a new patient coming in every five minutes.

After handing out an entire bag of bandages in what seemed like seconds, she was assigned the duty of water carrier. Her job was to keep sinks and water coolers supplied to keep people hydrated. The blonde girl and a black haired Faunus, Blake was her name, were assigned to the same job.

Another shock of reality: Faunus and humans were on the same boat. In fact, she'd never seen such human/faunus friendly cohabitation. Not that she still thought they were subhuman… well some of them…

She didn't have time to think about that. Keeping the water coming was her only job.

She'd long since ditched her white coat and combat skirt as it was ripped and bloody. She adopted a blended version of nurse and civilian clothes. Nurse pants, a white t-shirt under a pale blue jacket, and she'd crudely tied her hair back in a bun to keep her hair out of her face.

As much as she hated to admit it, this wasn't the time for fashion.

She and other girls worked for what seemed like days before the doctor, who she knew as DuFresne, found them.

"That's it. You need rest and food. Go to the cafeteria for a while." He spoke quickly before disappearing again.

Next to her, Yang sighed with relief, "I have to find my sister." She said.

"Yang, your sister can wait. Running yourself ragged won't help a single thing. Worst case scenario, she's… ya know… but even then you can't help her." Blake said.

Yang's eyes flickered red, but returned to normal, "You… you're right… I'm famished anyway…"

They turned and walked towards the eatery.

"You know, I feel like I know you." Yang said, glancing at Weiss.

"You should… Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company…" Blake answered.

"What? What are you doing around us peons? Shouldn't you have a room to yourself somewhere?" Yang asked. Her question hurt, but Yang's cocky smile told her it wasn't meant to be mean.

"Believe me, that sounds exquisite… but there are people that need help." Weiss answered.

"Even if they're faunus?" Blake asked. That one meant to hurt.

They'd reached their destination, collected their MREs, and sat in a corner to avoid the hustle and bustle.

"Right now, it doesn't matter if Human or Faunus… there are innocent people out there who need help." Yang said, attempting to ease the tension.

Blake scoffed, but opened her food packet and tore in, while Yang did the same.

Weiss remembered not long ago, less than a day in fact, that she'd sworn she'd never eat an MRE… but now, she didn't give a shit.

She was surprised how much so little manual labor had changed her. Sure, she still felt like a rich girl… but it was different somehow.

After eating, they sat there, watching the chaos.

"I'm sorry. I guess you being here is proof enough you're not one of the bad ones." Blake said, extending her hand.

"And you have a way with words, Miss Blake." Weiss said with a fake posh accent.

Two hours later, DuFresne found them again, ordering them back to work, which they jumped to immediately.

The next day went roughly the same. Weiss started by getting her arm checked, then delivering bandages. She ate lunch with Yang while Blake off running errands with other runners. After that, they returned to water duty.

Things stayed stagnant for a week before the patient inflow slowed to a crawl, and eventually stopped all together.

During this time, the three girls found out what had caused such destruction.

A mountain, not far from Vale, had turned out to be a massive volcano, which erupted.

This had caused such a mighty shockwave, killing thousands, and injuring even more.

Three days after Weiss started her 'job', the ash began to fall.

At first, many thought it was snow, as it was January, but they were quickly proved wrong.

Out of eleven thousand residents of Vale, only roughly seven thousand survived the initial shockwave. Three thousand more were killed by disease and a food shortage in the following week.

The hospitals in Vale weren't prepared for such a massive influx of patients, and, though rationed, food quickly ran out. Clean water followed soon after.

That was when Yang decided to leave.

"Yang… are you sure? Without food or water… they need more help than ever!" Weiss said, rolling over in her cot to address the girl next to her.

"It's been a week and a half, and I haven't heard anything from my sister… I need to find her. Blake's coming too. If you want to stay, I won't hold it against you… but I was hoping you'd come too."

Weiss had just been getting used to this life… but her friend needed her help.

"Can you… just give it a few days? So I can think?"

"I'll tell you what. I'll be gone at 9:00 AM the day after tomorrow. If you're not there, I'll get the message."

Weiss nodded in agreement before rolling over to sleep.

The next day went on as usual… at least physically.

Emotionally, Weiss was in turmoil.

In a surprisingly short amount of time, she'd felt herself slide from a spoiled rich girl into a hard working and honest girl, and she didn't mind one bit.

No longer did she fear dirt or sickness, instead diving into it, ready to help. Since the water had grown scarce, she didn't shower, only using enough to wash the grime off her hands and then going to work.

And she was thankful. She knew her family wasn't perfect, but living in the upper class of the upper class had made her… not a good person.

In a small way, she was thankful for the volcano… if only that it helped her become a better person. She loved her job. She enjoyed helping people, as exhausting as it was… but recently the hospital had become scarce. She still had a cast on her arm, but only because she'd neglected to remove it, namely because that'd have taken time that could have been spent helping the doctors.

Despite their best efforts, more than three quarters of their patients had died of their injuries, and the last quarter had either left or wandered around aimlessly.

It was because of this that, the next morning, she found Yang and Blake at the doors, a small bag packed with saved supplies and food/water. Yang nodded approvingly before pushing open the door.

Weiss realized she hadn't been outside since waking up in the hospital room. Outside, a thick film of grayish white had accumulated over the ground, with more small particles floated down. It must have been nighttime, because the only light outside was a dull yellow haze.

"Is it snowing? It doesn't feel that cold…" Weiss asked, following Yang into the swirling gray.

Yang's answer was quickly made apparent, "It's not snow… it's ash."

Weiss hadn't seen so much before… Her house in Atlas didn't have much in the fireplace department… but being a huntress in training, she'd at least seen a small amount of the substance.

Yang, who'd ditched her hospital attire, had dressed the most sensibly for such weather.

She wore a gray jacket with a fur-lined hood, a thick pair of jeans, gloves, and a strip of yellow fabric across her lower face, with ski goggles covering her eyes.

Weiss was confused by her choice of facial accessories until she took a deep breath through her mouth.

She coughed violently, bitter ash filling her mouth, clogging her lungs.

She felt a tap at her shoulder, and a strip of neon green fabric was thrust into her hands as shr turned.

Blake wore a black jacket, a balaclava, and similar goggles. She also wore thin black leggings, and a pair of dark blue wellington wading boots.

Weiss assumed Blake really didn't care about fashion… nor did she herself at that point, either.

Weiss wore what she'd worn at the hospital, but added a warm black hoodie with a bunny imprint that Yang had given her a few days ago.

When asked where Yang had gotten it, Yang's face darkened, but she didn't answer.

After applying her makeshift facemask, breathing became much better.

Weiss followed Yang for hours. Down a street, cut across an alley, then across another street.

Weiss gave a small shiver. Winter's frigid cold winds were still present, even if it wasn't snowing.

Ash continued to fall heavily, eventually reaching their knees, And what's more, it'd began to drizzle.

Wet ash clung to her pants and shoes, and with the consistency of wet cement, slowed the three girls down increasingly.

Eventually, Yang called it, "We need to find shelter… I can't walk more than a few steps without tripping up…"

Blake agreed, and looked around, "There are plenty of open houses to hide in for the time being... We should go in one of those!"

"No… that's someone's house!" Yang said.

"Yang. A mountain literally exploded, and there's more than a foot of wet ash on the ground… I don't think people would mind if we spent the night in their _abandoned_ houses."

The blonde girl conceded her point, and began trudging toward the nearest townhouse.

Stumble-climbing up the stairs, Yang tried the door.

Locked.

They moved to the next house.

Locked.

Finally, three tries later, they found an unlocked building. A bookstore called 'Tucson's Book Trade'.

Inside the shop was pitch black.

"We need light… and warmth. I'm freezing." Blake said from somewhere on Weiss's left.

"If I weren't so exhausted… I'd be able to fix that." Yang said.

"What?" Blake asked in a yelp.

"My semblance… well part of it… is fire based. If I weren't so exhausted, I could make this a sauna right now. What'd you think I meant?"

"Uh… nothing…" Blake muttered, and Weiss thought she'd heard a shuffling noise, like something sliding against wood.

"Blake, you can see in the dark, right? Is there any way we can get some light in here?"

"Not that I can see… ugh I hate to do this but…"

A loud ripping sound and a soft click later, the store was illuminated by soft yellow light.

Blake had started a fire in a metal trashcan using pages from a book.

Weiss loved the cold, but right now, the fire warmth made her skin feel good.

"We should… see if there's any food here. I couldn't get much from the hospital…"

Blake held up a hand, "Wait, first, we should figure out what's going on. Where are we going? If my memory serves, there's no hospital in this part of town, or anywhere near it."

Yang sighed, "I guess I should have said something… My sister, Ruby, might go home, to Patch. That's where I'm going… If you want to come with me, I assure you Patch will be a paradise compared to this."

Weiss nodded, "Patch it is… not like I have anywhere else to go…" She thought once again of her own house… She liked who she was now, and didn't want to return to who she had been.

Blake took longer to think, but only by a few seconds, "Same here. Patch might be our best bet for finding Ruby. You sure she'll be there?"

"Almost sure… If she's in any of the other hospitals, she might be there… but if I know Ruby, she'll run right home in this kind of crisis." Yang answered.

"Patch for sure then. Maybe there will be people there who can help us." Weiss said, laying back.

"My dad and Uncle Qrow for sure. A little mountain explosion can't hold them down for long…" Yang said, mirroring Weiss.

Blake remained seated, staring at the darkened window, engrossed in deep thought.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: This will be the last chapter for a while... probably till the weekend. Give myself a break. Anyhoo... I enjoyed writing this chapter, so I hope you enjoy reading. As always, read, right, and Review!**

Chapter 4

Ruby was wet. And cold.

Opening her eyes, she couldn't see anything. Nothing but darkness.

"He-he-hello?" She asked. Her voice echoed around what seemed like a small room.

Silence for a bit, before a male voice answered, "Hey there."

Ruby squeaked in surprise, looking around for the source. Part of the room must have been submerged in water, because her movements caused loud splashing sounds.

"Calm down… You're safe… for the time being." The voice said, before a shining light illuminated the area.

She was in a small compartment, something like a luggage storage area. One half of the compartment dipped into water, while the other side was tilted at a slight angle.

A boy sat nearby, leaning against inwardly curved walls. He was roughly her age, blonde hair, ripped hoodie and jeans, and similarly soaked.

"Calm down… we don't have much air." He said.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Look." He said, pointing to the wall across from him.

It was a cracked window to a pitch black nothingness.

"Where are we?" She asked, staring at the glass.

"We're down. Underwater… deep. I was swimming around, trying to find a way out, but found you instead. I thought you were dead." He said, "I'm Jaune."

"Ruby." She said, crawling out of the water.

Silence reigned for what seemed like hours, until, "You know… I shouldn't be here… I faked my way into Beacon." He said.

"What?"

"I… I got my hands on some fake transcripts and forged my way into the school system."

"Why?"

"I wanted to be a hero. I've never really amounted to much of anything… I ran away a few days ago… my parents don't know where I am…"

"Oh."

"And now I'm gonna die here… at the bottom of a fucking lake."

Ruby winced a little, not used to such language.

"No… rescue is coming. It has to, an airship this size can't have crashed unnoticed… especially within Vale, so close to Beacon." Ruby said.

"That's what I thought too… but that was hours ago."

"Don't give up hope, Jaune… We should stop talking though… don't know how much oxygen is left."

"You're right…" He said before sighing. With a slap, he covered up the end of his exhale.

Ruby giggled lightly.

More hours passed.

Jaune found a suitcase filled with Pumpkin Pete's cereal, and they ate in silence.

Ruby hated the taste, but now wasn't the time to be picky.

They ate in silence, and settled down, resting against each other for warmth. It was getting really cold.

After what seemed like days of complete silence, Jaune couldn't take it anymore.

"Ok… I think Search and Rescue would have reached us by now… We need to get out of here."

Ruby jumped a little, "Uh, wuh?"

"Get up, sleepyhead… we're getting out of here."

"How? Did you find an aqualung or something?"

"We don't need one."

"...what?"

"You have two perfectly good lungs. I have two good lungs-"

"Which can't breath in the water."

"We don't need to… Ruby… and I can't believe I'm saying this… take off your pants."

Ruby, at a loss for words, slapped him.

"No, I mean… ugh… We can make our own aqualungs. We just need pants."

"...What?"

"If we put as much air into a container, we can use it to both breath AND float!" Jaune said.

"Where'd that idea come from?"

"I just thought of it…."

…

…

…

"Okay, I saw it in a movie once. Either way, it should work."

"It'd work, except… I'm not wearing pants." Ruby said bashfully.

"...what?" It was Jaune's turn.

"I meant, I'm wearing Stockings… not exactly known for holding in stuff.

"Oh. Well… here."

Jaune popped a nearby suitcase open.

Ruby couldn't see the contents, but she watched Jaune stare at it for a few seconds, before slamming it shut and pushing it away, blushing.

Ruby watched the case slide away, noticing a strip of cloth hanging out of the side.

A yellow thong.

Before Ruby could say anything, Jaune had found another suitcase, and was pulling out a pair of jeans.

"Here, blow these up as much as possible, then tie the ends. Use your shoe laces."

Ruby nodded, and got to work.

Five minutes later, Ruby and Jaune's makeshift aqualungs were ready.

"Okay… I'm going to break the window. The air pressure will go up, remember to breath and swallow, then follow me out. Are you ready?" Jaune instructed.

Ruby nodded, and Jaune scooted to the window.

"Are you always this take-charge?" Ruby couldn't help herself.

Jaune blushed again, but didn't respond, instead, began kicking at the crack in the window.

A crack and splash later, the room began to fill.

"Incase this doesn't work… I'm glad to have known you, Ruby!" Jaune shouted over the roar of the water.

"Likewise!" Ruby shouted back before watching Jaune dive through the window and she followed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Pitch black and freezing. Those were two words Ruby instantly used to describe her world at that moment.

Luckily, Jaune must have found a waterproof flashlight, because a small light blinked into existence about two feet in front of her. It motioned for her to follow, and so she did.

She took a gulp of air from her pair of pants, and swam a little faster.

Straight. Air. Round a piece of wreckage. Turn right. Air. ascend. Turn right. Air.

Finally, after her pants had become a bit deflated, she saw muted blue ahead, and swam eagerly toward it.

As she pushed herself into the dark blue, her hand slipped from the leg of her air-jeans, and she watched with horror as her life-giving oxygen floated upward, out of her reach.

She scrambled upward, attempting to chase the bubble, but it was too late.

She could see soft tendrils of light above. She was so close… but her lungs had begun to burn.

Black splotches appeared in her vision, and her movements became erratic.

'This is it… I'm going to die… before even killing my first Grimm…' She thought sadly, as blackness began to overtake her.

Suddenly, she felt a tug on her foot, pulling her down.

'That's it… Death is pulling me by the foot towards…'

Her thought was cut off when she felt a weight press to her lips.

Opening her eyes, she saw the bluest eyes she'd ever seen stare back.

Jaune… was kissing her.

No… he was blowing into her mouth.

Breathing.

The blackness dissipated, and she kicked upwards along with Jaune.

Finally, they broke the surface, with both of them taking big gasps of air.

It didn't last as long as they'd liked, however, when Ruby inhaled a mouthful of something soft and thick, and coughed heavily.

She felt Jaune tug her to a nearby piece of floating wreckage and lift her onto it.

He huffed painfully as he climbed on beside her.

He took off his hoodie and wrung it out before gazing at it sadly.

"What's wrong?" She asked, her voice muffled by her own hand keeping the ash out.

"Nothing…" He sighed before ripping the hood off and handing it to her.

"Tie that around your face. Make sure it stays damp, otherwise the ash will get in." He instructed.

After ripping a piece for himself and tying it firmly, he stood up and looked around.

It was dark and hazy, with the ash swirling like snow before collecting on the water.

There were no sign of boats, bullheads, or any sign of life.

In fact, other than the lapping of the waves, it was completely silent.

"Ruby… something's wrong. Do you hear that?"

"No."

"We should still be visible from the city… but… I don't hear a thing. Don't you think there would still be boats around this wreckage?"

She sat up, "You're right… I don't hear or even see the city. Or Beacon…"

"And when we went down, we might have been right in the middle of the lake… Do you think…?"

"No. There has to be survivors in the city… maybe they can't get boats out. Look… no bodies."

Jaune figured that was a little odd… unless everyone from the ship survived, in which case wouldn't someone have noticed two missing people?

"Weren't you standing with someone? On the ship?" Jaune asked, recalling the ill-fated last few seconds from the ride.

"Yeah. My sister. If everyone survived… she must know I did… she'll be really worried." Ruby sat and thought for a while, "Patch. Yang knows if anything really bad happens, I'd go to Patch… it's the only place I feel really safe."

"Isn't that a small island off Vale? Do you think it survived… whatever happened?"

"Patch is a strong island… it's weathered its fair share of floods, earthquakes, even a tornado once. It could survive this.

"...If you say so... " Jaune said, unsure.

"Trust me. Patch is our best bet."

Jaune turned, hearing a small sound, like a distant humming.

"Do… do you hear that?"

"I do!" Ruby answered, jumping up.

"OVER HERE! HEY!" Jaune shouted, now seeing an inkling of light poking through the ash fall.

A few minutes later, two boats pulled alongside the wreckage.

"Thank god… I thought-" Jaune started, but stopped when he turned and saw Ruby's face..

"Oh… no…" Ruby muttered next to him.

Angry Grimm masks stared back.


End file.
